PATOLOGIA DA LONGA PORÇÃO DO BICÍPITE BRAQUIAL NOVOS CONCEITOS DE TRATAMENTO

Rev Port Ortop Traum 23(1): 18-32, 2015

Goal: literature review of the pathology of the long head of biceps brachii, including the latest developments regarding therapeutic intervention and its controversies.

Sources of data: search in Pubmed using key terms such as “long head of biceps brachii”, “tenotomy” and “tenodesis”. Published articles in the past 15 years were selected.
Other articles were searched from the previous references.

Summary of data: the review revealed that both tenodesis as tenotomy are viable treatment options with high success rate in the treatment of biceps pathology. The activity level and patient age are determinant in the choice of surgery technique. In tenodesis, the choice of open or arthroscopic, proximal or distal technique with variable clamping should be done integrating several variables, as well the surgeon’s experience. Other surgical procedures such as debridement or repair of the biceps anchor are used in selected cases.

Conclusion: it is very important make a correct clinical, imaging and arthroscopic evaluation of lesions of the long portion of biceps brachii. Its role in the origin of shoulder pain should never be neglected and should always be processed. Currently there are techniques to treat these lesions which appear to show satisfactory and promising results. However, many questions still arise regarding the choice of the best procedure, therefore further studies are needed in the long term.

Key words: Long head of the biceps brachii tendon, tenotomy, tenodesis, surgical indications, treatment

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